ABANDONING THE POVERTY MENTALITY SYNDROME
Copyright 2006 Dr. Eileen Silva
"Conference calls are too expensive." "I don't have the money to
attend the conference." "I can't afford to advertise." "I'm not
making the money John (or whoever) is making, so I'm not able to
do X, Y, Z."
I've heard a lot of these comments during my twenty plus years
in the business. Interestingly, most of them have been
second-hand reports from other distributors, not in-person
comments from the speaker. There seems to be a
poverty-consciousness in some circles that fosters
poverty-thinking through language rather than reality.
We are all guilty of it occasionally, and it actually gives us
an easy way to prevent excessive spending on frivolous things. I
have routinely said I couldn't afford something that I simply
did not want to spend the money on: a hotel suite, when a room
would do, or another diamond necklace, when I already have
several.
My understanding of poverty-consciousness goes back to my days
as a high school teacher almost thirty years ago. I coined a
phrase then, based on observation: "You show me a kid with a
$100-a-day drug habit, and I'll show you a kid who learns how to
make $100 a day."
Properly motivated people skip the limits on production. For
example, mothers have been known to single-handedly lift cars
when their child was pinned beneath the wheels.
After noticing that even kids could come up with cash for
whatever they wanted, almost without fail, I concluded that when
people in America say they can't afford something, what they
really mean is that you have not yet convinced them that they
should part with their money for the object in question.
You're probably wondering how there's a logical connection, and
then a moral to the story, between a desperate rescuing mother
or a teenager "needing" a fix, and you. Here it is! When you
begin to focus on "why," you want to develop your business, and
it becomes sufficiently compelling to get you past the normal
objections of a skeptical distributor (like those three poverty
mentality opening statements I quoted), then you will begin to
creatively work around them. Then, you CAN and WILL succeed in
this business!
Just use other resources to overcome your deficit. For example:
PROBLEM: "I don't have money for conference calls." SOLUTION: 1)
Use a free conference line or realize that the calls cost just a
few dollars monthly, but they will generate sales. One sale will
more than pay for the month's phone bill; 2) Have your sponsor
conference you in; 3) Obtain a tape of the calls.
PROBLEM: "I don't have the money to attend the conference."
SOLUTION: 1) Share a room to minimize expenses; 2) Earn extra
money in advance by "thinking increase;" 3) Plan
income-expanding business activities in conjunction with the
conference.
PROBLEM: "I can't afford to advertise." SOLUTION: 1) Co-op with
downline; 2) Use flyers and inexpensive mediums, like emails; 3)
"Trade" advertising for product or services.
Remember: "Thoughts are things." When say you can't afford
things, you are perpetuating your condition. Why not shift your
perspective away from the poverty-mentality to a more empowering
position? You will discover that you attract a lot more
business. In this business, the law of attraction influences
success. Become a confident businessperson, and great things
will begin to happen.
Remember that old expression, "The best things in life are
free," because it still has merit. I received an unexpected call
last night for a $350 retail order from a friend of someone who
had met me two years ago and had recently shared with the caller
about a product I had. His kind words didn't cost me a dime, yet
they generated me a 40% profit on the order.
Since you can do, be and have anything in life you really take a
stand for, you are --- after all --- very rich in opportunity.